ohio fire student relocating to florida

hi i am an ohio fire student and i am interested in moving to florida after i finish my training in ohio. i am looking in to the palm beach county area, ft.meyers area, tampa area and possibly miami and orlando as well. i was wondering if anyone could give some steps i might take as to what areas have the highest demand, what additional schooling i might need, what larger municipalities are looking for, and anything else that would be helpful. i am finishing up my 240 hr training now, that is all that ohio requires of their firefighters. after completion of my 240 i plan on going to medic school. would it be better if i were to do it in florida or ohio since they are on different standards?

thanks

any reccomendations on firefighting academies/medic schools would be great too

Well first off, 240 hrs of trianing isnt enough to give you a minimum standard cert in Florida. The minimum to be a paid firefighter is 360 hrs plus EMT. So you'd probably be granted a Firefighter I cert (which is the volunteer level) and you'd have to find a 200 hr bridge class to be able to take the standards exam. Second, if you're planning to go to medic school, do it in Florida, and do it before you get hired. Almost all the departments in south Florida are primarily hiring medics, and even in other parts of the state, your application will look much more attractive with the EMT-P on it. Most departments in central to northern Florida will hire you with EMT, but the pay is a lot lower. Another thing to note - the pay is better down south but the cost of living is a lot higher, so dont be fooled by the state's varying pay scales.

My advice, come to Florida and (if you've already got EMT-B) start working for an EMS company or department. Get the rest of your fire training out of the way, and go to medic school and make friends with your instructors and preceptors. Florida is very big on networking.

..Just some helpful hints. Good luck!

EDIT: I almsot for to add.. I would suggest moving to Orlando. The job market is decent for EMT's, and Orange County Fire Rescue is a very good department to work for (I have a few freinds there). Florida has about 15 training centers where you can get your standards at and the Central Florida Fire Academy (in Orlando) is one of the best. Also Valencia Community College (also in Orlando) has one of the best Paramedic programs in the United States.